Clippers' Paul could be new 'Mr. Big Shot'

LOS ANGELES – Less than an hour had passed since Chris Paul broke the Memphis Grizzlies' hearts with a last-second, game-winning floater.

Chauncey Billups, a man who is so clutch, they call him "Mr. Big Shot," smiled as he got dressed, fastening the buttons on his shirt. Without a ball in his hand, Billups pantomimed the final seconds.

He danced right, got turned back. He tried again and the same result, and then with a wide grin, Billups recalled the final shot of Game 2.

"A great player just made a great shot," Billups said.

Before the Clippers could celebrate a 93-91 victory and a 2-0 series lead, Paul had to be great against one of the league's greatest.

The plan with 12 seconds left was to get the ball to Paul and to get Tony Allen off of him.

Allen, regarded as the best on-ball defender in the entire league, was ready to swallow up Paul and keep him from getting into the paint.

Earlier in the game, the Grizzlies turned to Allen to extinguish a red-hot Jamal Crawford, and Allen was successful.

"He's one of the premiere defenders in the league," Crawford said. "He's always tough. It's never easy going against a guy like that."

On the final possession, the Clippers ran screens to try and get Allen off of Paul, to try and force Memphis to switch.

"He didn't want to switch," Billups said.

Paul finally got the ball near halfcourt with seven seconds on the clock and Allen started to smother him. Paul wanted to go to his right hand, and Allen didn't let him.

"Chris went right; he stopped him," Willie Green said. "Chris went again; he stopped him. And on the third time, he got just an inch."

Paul put Allen on his left hip, created the tiniest amount of space with his left arm and got towards the right block, where he pushed a floater between Allen and big-man Darrell Arthur.

The ball softly bounced off the backboard and through the rim, never even hitting the rim.

"We were on him," Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. "What can you do? The kid made a tough shot. He's a great player. That's what great players do; they win games."

Paul scored the Clippers' final eight points and dominated in the second half. Jamal Crawford owned the second quarter, and Blake Griffin kept the game close in the first when Memphis sprinted out of the blocks.

"Those guys man, nothing surprises me about what they do, whether it's CP, Jamal or Blake," DeAndre Jordan said. "I see it all the time. Now it's like, 'OK. I expect that.'"

Even when it's against one of basketball's most tenacious defenders, the Clippers' confidence never shook.